Restraint
by TPKTheStoicTPK
Summary: Sometimes all it takes is patience and a bit of restraint. A Konami fanfiction. Please read my other story To No One first as that serves as an introduction of sorts to this story.


Your friend Nanakon has logged on.

KonaKona: Hey there sensei (owo)/!

Nanakon: Hey there Kona-chan (owo)/ , you seem happy today.

KonaKona: I am, how could you tell?

Nanakon: XD you usually limit yourself to 3 exclamation points –w

Nanakon: So what's got you so excited?

KonaKona: I finally triggered the tsundere flag!

Nanakon: Kagami?

KonaKona: of course

Nanakon: I won't bug you for details, but I wish you good luck :)!

KonaKona: thanks

Nanaokon: by the way…. Have you done your homework?

KonaKona: ;;

After a little bit of pestering on her "esteemed" sensei's part, Konata finally logged off with a sigh. Oh well… always more time to grind. She had been glad she got to talk to Kuroi though. Her teacher was someone who Konata had grown very close to, and knowing that she approved of her somewhat abnormal and generally unaccepted (at least to those poor souls who've never read a good yuri) infatuation for another girl gave comfort to the blue-haired otaku's mind. She supposed that it was good having someone to talk to about this… though she wouldn't give details.

She grinned as she opened her email again, revealing the root of her delight. It was an email from Tsukasa about a certain tsundere, specifically about a sudden outburst by the twin-tailed girl during a nap.

"Onee-chan spoke your name in her sleep a couple of times and when she woke up she said 'I want to join our bodies'" the email reported.

She reread it again, the smile on her face growing wider.

"The pieces are falling into place," she said out loud, "my relationship levels are high, the flag has been triggered. Now all I need to do is lure a confession out of her and I get the good ending." Her voice dripped with excitement and hope. She had been avidly pursuing this path since that fateful day when she had realized her true feelings. "Narrative device, flashback." Konata cheered as she thought back to that day.

The universe hated her. There was no other explanation. She had finally got into a Haruhi Suzumiya concert and what ended up happening? Her seat was right behind some guy who must have been 12 feet tall and completely blocked her view. She squirmed in her seat, anxious to see around this annoying person but to no avail. Finally she sank back into her seat, resigning herself to this cursed fate.

Then she felt hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and felt herself being pulled over into the next seat as Kagami's gentle deredere voice said "here". She now had a clear view of the stage, her eyes captured by the scene of Haruhi's voice actor singing on the stage in front of her.

It was the kindest act she could remember anyone but her father having done for her, Kagami had sacrificed this perfect view for her… She was too entranced by the concert to continue that particular train of thought but as the concert ended, she looked at Kagami who looked at her. Kagami gave a gentle smile and asked, "Did you enjoy it?" Konata just nodded as Kagami stood up and began leaving with Tsukasa and Miyuki. Konata followed, now lost in the same train of thought as before. In addition she felt… odd. "Konata, you haven't said a word" Konata simply gave an inquisitive noise.

"What's this feeling I'm feeling?" she thought to herself.

She arrived home and went straight to her room, as she so often did. However, strangely for her, she did not go immediately on the computer or indulge herself in a manga. She simply lay down on her bed and was consumed by thoughts, thoughts of that night, and of her Kagamin~, and each time she thought of the lavender haired tsundere, her heart skipped a beat. It was then she knew she was in love.

She told her dad the next day, while Yutaka was out with Minami. "Dad… I have something I need to tell you." She said in a rare, serious voice. He looked at her, concern in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Dad… I'm in love"

"With?" he said, paternal suspicion in his voice. It was understandable, this was someone who might take his daughter away from him, or worse, hurt his beloved Konata. He would do anything within his power to prevent that.

Her voice was subdued as she muttered the answer, "Kagami"

Sojiro looked at her for a second before putting on a sage tone and saying, "you're aware that the tsundere path is one of the hardest to take?"

Konata smiled now, back to her bubbly self as her fear of what her father would think had been assuaged, "yeah… but isn't the challenge half the fun."

"Oh so true," Sojiro said, laughing, his own fears subsiding. The tsundere path was the hardest, but undoubtedly the most rewarding. What was love without its challenges, and if the Hiiragi girl managed her way over the high hurdles of a friendship with someone like Konata with so much patience then Sojiro couldn't imagine someone better suited to the challenge of taking it a step further. There may be a few bumps along the way, he mused, but in the end he just knew there will be a happy ending.

Nothing changed radically though. Konata circled her prey with great patience, ready to pounce when the time came but smart enough to restrain until that moment. The little fox wouldn't want to scare this particular rabbit away. She slowly let the relationship levels climb, pressing subtly but relentlessly onwards.

And it had all been worth it for the events of a two weeks ago, at a study party at her Kagamin~'s house. It was the usual sort of thing until Miyuki asked that fateful question. "What would you like your first kiss to be like?" She listened to the others with half an ear, her gaze falling upon her twin-tailed tsundere and thinking. Then it was her turn. She blushed, and her eyes fell upon Konata for a second, the otaku felt her heartbeat rise a couple of notches before they ripped themselves from me and she started her short explanation. "Isn't who it's with more important than where or when? I mean I'd be happy as long as it was the right person."

A mischievous grin ripped through Konata's features as a sole thought entered her mind. "Pounce". So she closed the distance between them quickly. She teased her a little bit, slowly closing the distance between us and watching her carefully. Everything was on the table now and unless she watched Kagami carefully she could wave goodbye to her friendship, and she couldn't handle that. Luckily her skills of observation have been honed by thousands of hours looking in every nook and cranny of various dungeons for hidden treasures. Even luckier was the fact that Tsunderes tended to wear their emotions clear as day on their face, and Kagamin~ was no different.

Kagami's face was tinged with a blush so deep and hot you could fry an egg on it. It bespoke of many emotions, surprise, fear, anxiousness, and a touch of… excitement? Konata couldn't believe it for a second as she moved ever closer. She was not displaying even a touch of anger. She knew from extensive research that, for a tsundere to not experience any anger in this situation must mean that your relationship levels were high and you were close to victory. She was on cloud nine from this realization. Kagami loved her back! This was great. And now they would share a kiss to seal their…

It took a herculean effort but she stopped her advance towards the tsundere, halting the imminent kiss. Not here, not now. She saw again the fear prominent in Kagami's eyes. She didn't know what was happening. Konata knew that Kagami loved her but apparently Kagami was still figuring that out. If Konata kissed her now it would completely overwhelm her. She needed time. So Konata stood up and went out for snacks, saving everything by a hair.

"End scene," Konata sang, reveling in the happy memories. And they had all come to a crux. Dreams of her? And dirty dreams at that…. This was great; it must mean that she's accepted her feelings. There must be an event scene approaching.

Konata went to bed, figuring that her homework could wait till later, she had a strategy to strategize and a certain lavender haired tenshi to win over.

"Oh Kagamin~" Konata's voice rang out over the train station as ran up to the girl standing beside her twin as they waited for the train. Kagamin~ looked quite jumpy and when she heard Konata's voice she started, jumping a foot when she heard Konata's voice calling out to her. Her face was a mix of embarrassment, fear, and anger. Just as predicted.

**Step one: tomorrow morning she will likely be in full tsuntsun mode, very easy to anger and very sensitive about the subject of her little dirty dream knowing about it. In this case, proceed with caution. If she does not seem to be in tsuntsun mode then she does not know Tsukasa sent the email. In this case abort mission and don't mention the dream ever again.**

"Ohayou Kona-chan!" Tsukasa said waving.

Kagamin~ was still fidgeting a bit as she muttered, "Ohayou Konata."

"Kagamin~" Konata said getting close and putting on her most pitiable begging voice, " I couldn't do my homework last night… could you help me with it on the way to school?"

"Geez Konata," the jittery tsundere said, calming down ever so slightly now that she was on familiar territory, nevertheless a blush was still prominent on her cheeks, "Up late playing video games again weren't you? You need to learn to put schoolwork first and stop depending on me. Fine I'll help you, but just this once got it?"

"Yay!" Konata cheered and gave her Kagamin~ a hug. It was unusually brief for her but this fact was dismissible as the train came chugging into the station at that moment. There were four seats in a row that were available so they took those and Konata got out her notebook and pointed to a problem which she was having difficulty in.

"You… You actually did some of your homework?" Kagamin~ blurted out, shocked but happy that Konata was finally being proactive.

**Step two: ask for help to finish homework (wake up early tomorrow morning and do as much as possible, this will likely make her happy to see that I've put effort into it and a happy Kagamin~ is a tolerant Kagamin~). This will be the meter for telling how she feels. If she accepts but is indignant and embarrassed then she is worried what I think of her, meaning she cares about my opinion of her, a good sign. If this is the case then proceed to step three. If she is angry then she is simply worried about me teasing her about the dream. If this is the case then abort mission and don't mention the dream ever again.**

Konata and Kagami worked out the homework as the train sped along to their destination. Just like any other day. Kagamin~'s face had a hint of hope in it. "Perhaps she doesn't know about it," her beautiful blue eyes said.

With Kagami's help they completed Konata's homework quickly and fell into talking, and as they talked Konata saw that Kagami was becoming more and more relaxed, the hope on her face growing. She kept up fragments of her guard though; experience had obviously taught her to always keep some up with Konata. Their stop came soon and they went to their respective classes.

She walked into her classroom to see a rare sight. Kuroi-sensei was in the front of the room. She was often late so it was odd to see her on time and odder to see her early. "Ohayou Sensei," Konata said to her, walking up to her happily.

Kuroi walked up to her and began in a reprimanding tone, "You know you should learn to do your homework before you get on Konata. Think how it affects me. I need to go solo hunting just about every time I get on because you haven't done your homework. Did you even do it last night?"

At the last question Konata's face contorted into a grin. It was a grin reminiscent of L*ght from D**th N*t*as one of his perfectly orchestrated plan came together. It sent shivers down Kuroi's spine.

"Of course, "Konata said in a content voice, full of pride, "here you go." She handed her sensei the homework and went to her seat to begin talking with Miyuki and Tsukasa. Kuroi watched her go. "That girl," she thought to herself, "when she wants something she's so determined and efficient it's scary. I'm not sure whether to feel happy or sorry for that Hiiragi girl."

She heaved a small sigh and got back to her own work.

After that the day passed almost normally. Konata found that she just couldn't fall asleep during her classes though, which was odd for her. For once she was forced to actually listen and take notes, though by the time the lunch bell rang her notebook was more doodles than words.

Konata, Miyuki, and Tsukasa gathered around the same desk as they got out their lunches. It wasn't long until Kagami joined them.

** Step three: Do nothing. Be careful to do nothing out of the ordinary and above all do not tease her about the dream, try to keep teasing to a minimum but if the perfect opportunity presents itself it would be suspicious to not tease her about her weight or her tsundereness. Get her to lower her suspicions and guard. If possible make her think that you never heard about it at all. If she joins us at lunch then it's likely that her suspicions have been subdued and she trusts that either I don't about it or I am keeping quiet about it. If this is the case then continue onto step four. If she does not come to join us at lunch then her suspicions are still present but the situation is still salvageable as her feelings haven't been hurt yet. If this is the case abort mission and never mention the dream again.**

They fell into their usual cycles of conversation.

"So I was watching Haruhi the other day, the Endless Eight episodes." Konata said, this was accompanied by nods from the others. For once they actually knew what she was talking about as it was hardly a fringe anime like some others that she watched, "and I was wondering… if you had to live one day over and over again, while retaining full knowledge of the events of each of the previous times you've lived that day, like Yuki, what day would you want to repeat."

"I think a holiday might be nice," Tsukasa said, "like Christmas."

"Yeah but wouldn't that get boring fast?" Kagami replied, "half of the fun of Christmas is the presents and half of the fun of the presents is the surprise. If you knew what you were going to get then it would get boring fast."

"That's my Kagamin~" Konata cooed drawing close to the tsundere, "always the voice of reason."

She blushed slightly at the closeness and stammered, "W-well with y-you someone has to be. Hey, stop that, it's weird." She barked as Konata put her blue-veiled head on Kagami's shoulder and rubbed against it. Konata giggled and obliged

"It would have to be a day off of school," Konata said, "but not a particularly meaningful one. It has to be open. That way you can do whatever you want to do. You could read a different manga every day and finish that pile of video games that you've never finished."

"But if everything restarts then wouldn't you lose all progress on those kinds of things?" Miyuki said.

Konata's wistful demeanor promptly fell as she considered the horror of having all that hard work snatched from her every single day. Ironically it was Konata that knew most about long term consequences. She knew that, even though it was boring, you needed to grind to defeat the higher level bosses. She knew that you had to get your attributes up if you wanted to stand a chance against anything. And she knew well that the highest level of patience was needed for getting your relationship levels up. Just because her long term priorities didn't include an overly successful future does not mean that she could only live in the short term.

The conversation continued until the bell rang and Kagami left to go back to her own class. After that the rest of the day passed normally. The final bell of the day finally rang, and the girls met up with each other at the exit.

"Oh hey," Konata said to the twins as they began walking to the station, "can I come over to your house?"

"Sure," Tsukasa said, always happy to have Konata over.

"Ok. Any reason?" Kagami said, more out of curiosity than suspicion.

Konata giggled, "Yutaka's having Minami over and I think they would appreciate it if I left them alone…" Kagami blushed but the other two were confused.

"Why is that?" Tsukasa asked.

"Because they'd probably ask my help with their homework," Konata replied. It was true, even if it wasn't the reason.

Kagami sighed and muttered something under her breath. Konata chose to ignore it though. Her plan was coming together.

**Step four: Ask to go to their house. If yes proceed to step five. If no abort etc…**

They soon parted with Miyuki and headed to the Hiiragi house. "No one else is home so it should be nice and quiet for studying," Kagami noted, then looked at Konata, "you are planning on studying aren't you?"

Konata put on her best offended face and said, "of course! I'm hurt that you would even accuse me of putting off such an important task!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kagami said, rolling her eyes.

They arrived at the house and began studying. Konata was careful to not act too out of the ordinary, taking frequent breaks and asking for Kagami's help constantly.

Then, around an hour into the study session she looked at the clock and smiled. It was time to spring the trap.

"Hey Tsukasa, don't you have cooking classes on Mondays?" She casually remarked to the bow-haired girl., who gave a start and looked up to the clock.

"Oh no, I'm going to be late again." She said as she stood up and dashed off, getting ready. Soon they heard the front door close. Now they were all alone, step five had gone off without a hitch.

**Step five: Isolate. Find a way to get Tsukasa out of the house and, preferably, leave me and my Kagamin~ all alone.**

Konata glanced at Kagami who looked surprised. Obviously she herself had forgotten about her sister's class as well. She had not expected to be alone with Konata. She fidgeted a bit, clearly uncomfortable.

Konata stretched and said, "how about a break?"

Kagami nodded, still a bit shaken.

Konata sprawled herself out on the table with a happy sigh. Silence filled the room for a while before Kagami spoke up timidly, obviously straining her courage to find and say the words. "Hey, Konata… did you get an email from Tsukasa yesterday?"

Konata suppressed a grin as the sixth part fell into place without any provocation.

**Step six: try to get her to bring up the dream. Be extremely subtle. After this observe and react as situation dictates, remember, there are no save points or do-overs in real life so tread carefully. Abort if necessary.**

"Yeah," she replied with a shrug, "but I had a feeling I wasn't getting the whole story so I wanted to talk with you about it before I made any assumptions."

This took Kagami completely by surprise. "Konata… that's… very mature of you." Kagami said surprised by her friend's words.

"I have my moments," she replied, "so… what's the story?"

Kagami blushed slightly as she recounted her odd dream. Konata listened attentively, only giggling at a few parts and keeping commentary to a minimum. "so you see," Kagami wrapped up, "It's all a big misunderstanding. Thanks for allowing me to clear it up though." She smiled then the smile dropped as she saw her blue-haired friends face. The ever-present smile seemed somewhat weaker than usual. "Something wrong Konata?"

"No, it's nothing." She replied, a twinge of genuine sorrow in her voice, "it's just a little… disappointing I guess. Even in your dreams I do nothing but cause you trouble and embarrass you. I'm sorry."

This set Kagami aback, completely surprised yet again by this girl. She seemed, regretful, and even apologized, and her jade green eyes shimmered with sadness, an emotion Kagami had rarely if ever seen in the girl. She felt responsible for this sadness in a way and scooted over to the small, blue-haired girl and wrapped her arms around her. She felt her face light up but she didn't care, at that moment she felt completely and utterly happy with where she was. "I didn't mean it like that Konata," she murmured comfortingly to the girl in her arms.

Konata's sadness quickly fell away as she reveled in the bliss of being held by her love. She felt completely comfortable and safe within her arms. Konata wrapped her own arms around Kagami, pressing the two closer together as she whispered to her, "but it's true. I'm a troublemaker. I don't even understand why you put up with me."

It was the perfect time, the perfect place, the perfect situation. The way was so easy that the words slipped out as if they were on an icy slope. "Because I love you baka." Kagami said involuntarily, as if possessed by the moment. All of her fears of Konata rejecting her forgotten in her need to comfort her saddened love, but returning the instant the words left her lips.

Konata was on cloud nine, the sheer joy of being held in the arms of the girl who she loved eclipsed by the pride she felt when her plan came together mixed with the happiness of hearing that her love was returned. But even this ecstasy was dwarfed the next moment when she leaned forward and captured the lips of her lover with her own.

The world melted around the two girls as they bathed in the passion and love that flowed between them through their mouths. It was timid and awkward but held months of passion, which had been building up but had been restrained until now.

They had never been as close and had never been as happy as they were now, in each other's arms they felt safe and at home as their kiss drew out.

They were so consumed by the feelings of the moment they failed to notice the sound of the front door opening and closing or the sound of footsteps coming quickly down the hall. That was until the door to the room slid open.

"Onee-chan have you seen my…." Tsukasa began but stopped when the sight in front of her finally registered in her mind.

The two pairs of eyes that belonged to the girls, still in midkiss, fell upon the bow-haired girl at the door at the same instant and both parties froze. An awkward silence filled the air.

…

The look on Tsukasa's face was the same as when Kagami had muttered the sentence that was the cause of this whole mess yesterday. Kagami's face was also the same as yesterday, but the blush was, if possible, even deeper. Konata's face looked like someone had just told the funniest joke in the history of comedy and she was trying hard to hold it in.

Tsukasa closed the door and the sounds of Konata's uproariously laughter filled the air.


End file.
